Dell PowerEdge KVM from 2007 

ha thank you!

100% what he said

yeah I think if I end up managing more than two machines at once I'll have to rethink it haha

You could also use something like PiKVM for the web access. Combine that with a little vga to hdmi converter to connect to the local vga of the KVM. That'll get around the Java issues.

I mean, that's how these were designed to be used. The KVM is meant to be with the servers, and accessed over the network. Generally you wouldn't ever be using OSCAR but connecting via DSVIEW software or the Java Web interface. They're meant to run headless for the most part. I have an Avocent (which the Dells are rebadged with custom firmware) DSR2035. And yes, those empty spaces on the board are for additional kvm client ports. Oh, and the virtual media is usually a licensed feature and requires DSVIEW management software, at least on the Avocent models.

oh good call, I'll block that other fan port. and thanks for watching!

thank you!

yeah very good call, I'll cover that!

I was thinking maybe it was an incompatible SIP

yeah I'll bet it's something simple on that broken power supply. and ah, good call about that passive splitter!

thanks! more always on the way.

nice! yeah I'll have to hunt down an expansion module if I start managing more machines at the rack

Most of these Avocent based units work pretty easily for KVMoIP, BUT, they really only work with Java6u45. I'd you have Java7, you have to change security settings in a Java, and 8+ is just right out. Pretty similar to the Dell iDRAC 6 console, which, if you look closely, uses the same Java console software as the Avocents.

thanks!

Very cool! Yeah I remember seeing these things (well - probably not this exact unit, but a similar KVM) in action years ago and being amazed. Thanks for watching, more to come!

yeah was thinking maybe the SIP I used might not support it even though it was USB

Based on Dell's documentation it seems like Avocent was very involved with these.

Thanks for watching!

Haha thank you!

thanks for watching!

thanks!

Thanks!

im starting to wonder if Avocent built all these and they got rebranded.

me too now 😆

yeah I like having XP VMs around!

oh yeah that would've worked

Nice! Yeah let me know what you find, I need to tinker with it more too. I'm sure I was just doing something wrong or the SIP I have doesn't support it.

ah cool! yeah and this one is getting up there, I think it's really impressive considering how old it is.

haha thanks!

Read about that application but forgot to try it out! Yeah they seem like rock solid units for sure.

😂

thanks!

I'm also fairly certain this is just a Dell-branded Avocent. That's really interesting about the cost savings if you could deal with just one active user (a pretty reasonable tradeoff, I'd imagine). I think you're probably right about the SIP I have not supporting virtual media, that was my best guess as well. It's hard to tell which ones actually support it, the manual I downloaded just says "a USB2 SIP" is required.

@@clabretro The RCS User's Guide (2010) on Dell's webpages (for 2161DS-2/4161DS/2321DS) says that it supports P/S2, USB and "USB2 with virtual media" SIP. Note the USB vs USB2 distinction, I expect that the "normal" USB SIP uses 1.5 or 12 Mbps UBS 1.1 which is plenty for mouse+keyboard... Then in the Virtual Media section of the manual there's a note that says the virtual media function requires a "USB2 SIP or Avocent brand PS2M or USB2IQ". And a second note says that virtual media isn't possible for SIP connected via PEMs, but that's obviously not your problem here. I'll post the link as a separate post to avoid RU-vid deciding to eat the message including all the text. So I was wrong about them not supporting Avocent SIPs, based on the DellKVM compatibility matrix it supports many but not all Avocent "CIP", the model names Dell mention doesn't appear to exist anywhere! but I'm I'm guessing they might be referencing the DSAVIQ-USB2 and/or AVRIQ-USB2. Ah, the 1.4.0.6 (2016, final) KVM firmware release notes mentions that it adds support for the AVRIQ-USB2 and MPUIQ-VMCHS which both are virtual media dongles. So that's likely at least four SIP/CIP models that "should" allow virtual media if you have the "latest". Savings: The first Dell KVM install back in the days that I used had ~80 servers in a data center in another continent - controlled by one 4161DS and lots of PEM and SIPs. A few important servers were connected directly (and via DRAC for power and virtual media but the KVM was more convenient), the rest via PEMs which drastically cut the cost and made cabling much simpler (most PEM to server cables were 1, 2 or 3 feet). PDU's with per-outlet power control could be used to power cycle the machines if necessary. All to make it as usable as possible without having to get data center "remote hands" involved - which often took hours and even back in 200x cost hundreds of dollars per started hour, and more often than not the person assigned was basically computer illiterate (!?), shocking but true. Now and then you got a good one, my good were you grateful when that happened. Now, a number of people had access to it but the reality is that 99% of the work was done via ssh so KVM conflicts were very rare, 99% of the time no one had any connection up at all but it was important that it was possible. I'm not sure if using DRAC modules was even possible for the (Dell) "bulk" servers at that time but it certainly would have completely blown up the budget compared to even the 5 "active" KVMs a non-PEM setup would have required. Yes, using PEM meant that "channel stomping" could and did happen but it was rare, and when it happened it was almost always one person trying to do simultaneous windows on machines on the same PEM. I suspect most Linux deployments still fall into an usage pattern that is compatible with this, though these days they'd likely have built-in KVM instead, For more concurrency you could as mentioned go with more KVM switches and active cascade, though prices went up a LOT if you needed more than 4 active concurrent remote users in a specific system (cascade of switches) though but it did exist, IIRC when this model was launched Raritan already had KVMs that supported 32 concurrent remote users "anywhere", of course requiring active cascade. It just cost a lot, LOT more (Raritan was the ne-plus-ultra KVM brand at the time and priced themselves accordingly).

ha that's awesome!

yeah I thought about that afterwards 😆

thanks! I haven't, but I've been thinking about doing a workshop tour video eventually

I had forgotten about the activity light until I used it for this video, was a nice surprise!

I still have mine running. Biggest reason is the support for serial connections as well and I have a use for out of band, remote, serial terminal access. If I have that might as well dockerize an environment with java6u45 and keep on using the VGA modules.

very interesting. I wonder if Avocent built all these and they got rebranded.

they did!@@clabretro

Will confirm. Even the Dell iDRAC KVM console is Avocent licensed software (not the whole drac, just the Java console software, up through drac6 at any rate). You'll note that one of the chips on your kvm board even says Avocent.

ha nice!

I remember those days haha

ah that is a great idea!

Yeah the KVM extender isn't a bad idea!

I have an Avocent DSR2035 version on this thing, and it runs a bloody PPC750 aka, G3 (500mhz, I think) for the CPU. To call this "like a PC" is an understatement. Unlike x86, the PPC 7xx series chips have been made into really good embedded CPUs. They're really fast, (we're talking head to head with Pentium 4's here) and absolutely sipped power. Even the older 500+ MHz desktop chips didn't need active cooling and used about 15w.

I think so, I remember reading that in the manual

Could be, I'd have to try. Though I'll probably just use it via the local interface the vast majority of the time.

exactly

I think that's a very good theory, totally makes sense

Tried a few different sticks with FAT/FAT32/NTFS, no luck. I think either still something wrong with the media on that end or maybe the SIP isn't compatible.

I agree haha. I'll have to rethink it if I start managing more than a couple of them.

I've read that they are, but I'm not sure, might depend on manufacturer. I made sure to buy SIPs that were at least described as for Dell units and all four worked. Can sometimes be cheaper to buy them in a lot. but yeah the SIPs can cut right into the cost effectiveness of the whole thing.

purely as a hobby and out of curiosity. I do plenty of VM stuff but also find it fun to tinker with and get the old hardware back to life.

nothing quieter than the machine being off 😂

I think they all might be made by Avocent

I did try that, I'm thinking my SIP just didn't support it

yeah no luck. I think the SIP I have doesn't support it

Other way around. Dell licensed these from Avocent and Avocent white box branded these for Dell. Not just Dell, they white boxes these for other OEs as well. Avocent was then sold off to Vertiv, where support languishes to this day.

that one looks nice!

@@clabretro got it for my homelab. it was $140 on ebay with 4x usb sips.

didn't have any visual signs of overheating by quite possibly!

that's what I'm thinking, I threw a usb fd drive on there (lol) with no luck, next up is exactly what you suggest.

I like these old Dells but they also like their electricity

yeah 😆

You fixed it before you murdered the coils, so I think you will be alright XD@@clabretro

Gave that a shot but no luck, thinking maybe the SIP doesn't support it.

I just double checked and I was using the web management GUI in an XP VM running Java 1.6.0_07 on IE 7... so yeah that's probably not too useful haha. Since it's an older unit my main use case is to run it with an actual monitor/mouse/keyboard hooked up to it rather than over the web GUI. But I was wondering how far it could be updated, I wonder what the last supported firmware gets things up to.

@@clabretro Thanks so much! Yeah, I got a Win XP VM setup now as well. And I installed Java 1.6 after trying it unsuccessfully with 1.8. I did not check what version IE was. But it works now! Thanks for your info again, I’m pretty sure it will help people in the same situation in the future! Also I just bought a Dell Avocent MPU2016, which should use HTML5 for the Remote Desktop functionality. They are not too expensive either. I think I still need to get SIPs but I’ll also try the one’s I’ve got for the 2161DS-2. I was too lazy to investigate that beforehand. Also, as far as I understand, the MPU2016 can use serial SIP’s and act kind of like a serial terminal server which can come in handy! Anyways, again thanks for your help! And keep doing those awesome videos!

Thanks! I've been eyeing some of the newer models that have HTML5 as well, let me know how it goes. Hopefully the SIPs work in the new one!

@@clabretro Hey I just got my Vertiv Avocent Dell MPU2016. It works beautifully. The HTML5 KVM sessions work fine on my Mac with Chrome. I also tried the Dell/Avocent AVO-CMN1005-012 VGA/USB SIP and it works fine. It upgraded to firmware version 1.00.01.15 once I connected it to the MPU2016 but seemed to work fine. I did not test all functionality (Virtual Media....) but video, keyboard and mouse seemed to work fine. The funny thing was, that once I connected it back to the 2161DS-2 it "upgraded" the firmware back to 1.00.01.13. But I think if I would have disabled the auto-update function it would have worked with the never version just fine.

​@@michaelfattinger144I can't be 100% sure as I have a different model, but almost all the Avocent based units like this will work fine up through Java6u45. It's Java 7 and up that changed a bunch of security settings and broke the console software. It works even under Windows 11.

I think this one is from Avocent, HP may have rebranded them as well.

I was wondering about that

@@clabretro dell, IBM, hp, all use the same dongles, which where avocent, which is now vertiv.

There are also a few variations, some are digital, and are the newer mpu. The "analogue ones are the dsr models. And they are not compatible with each other.

very good call, I'm going to do that

it wasn't very hard to make this setup look absurd 😆

😅 I'm pretty sure they're all just rebranded Avocent machines.

that's what's nice about the local interface, no need for Java

Hope you don't want to use any enterprise gear from the 1995-2015 era then, because like 95% of it uses a Java applet 😂... Although I appreciate the sentiment, I was ecstatic when they finally deprecated Java applets... Yet they still live on like software zombies hahaha

Java will be with us always 😆

what did you expected to be? Until 2019 when Oracle pretty much killed Java with the new licence scheme, every OEM used Java for all admin tools. We at IBM and Lenovo had to ditch so much useful stuff and switch to browser based just because now the user has to pay for the licence ,not the OEM...

​@@chaseohara4781Yeah I can relate. Lots of servers into the 2010s used Java for remote access. I was working with a HP blade server that required Java back in 2015-2016...